Building long-term relationships with clients is not easy. To do this, you need to understand their expectations well and eliminate any problems that arise when interacting with the company. The customer journey map tool helps to solve these problems. How to create a customer journey map, read our article below. This is not to be missed!
A customer journey map (CJM) is translated as a customer journey map. This table or infographic shows all the points of contact of a consumer with a product or brand since the first contact.
Such a map displays the actions of the client, his thoughts, emotions, and problems that he faces:
Here is an example of a customer journey map. Horizontally – the path on which the customer contacts the company. Vertically – points of contact, emotions, questions of the client and his tasks at every step.
A user journey map is a tool that helps improve customer experience.
Working with CJM allows you to:
Increase the customer focus of the company. Each employee understands how the company interacts with customers and how their actions affect the customer experience with the map. Working with CJM helps shift the focus from the organization’s problems to the client’s issues.
Reduce the risk of new product failure. CJM acts as a tool for researching the needs of future customers. Allows you to see and eliminate possible problems in advance.
Find growth points for existing products and services.
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Most often, CJM looks like a table with graphic elements. The columns indicate the path stages, and the rows indicate the necessary information for each stage.
And there is also a customer journey map in the form of infographics:
It doesn’t matter which form you choose. The main thing is that the map is understandable to company employees and provides the necessary information to generate ideas to improve customer experience.
Let’s see in detail which blocks are included in CJM and what function each of them performs:
The basis of the map is a list of stages that the client goes through in interacting with the company, from the moment of the first contact to the moment of leaving.
The number and composition of steps depend on the specific business. In general, the client’s path looks like this:
Each stage includes one or more touch points through which the customer interacts with the company. All points are divided into online and offline:
To a greater or lesser extent, each point affects the overall customer satisfaction, so it is correct to highlight them all.
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Finding points of growth is easier if you describe everything that the client does at every step to achieve the goal.
EXAMPLE
Stage: Order a taxi through the application.
Actions: I decide to order a taxi. I open the app on my smartphone. I registered an account. I choose a place to pick me up from. I indicate the address where I will go. I prefer the right class of the car. I click the “Order” button. I’m going by taxi. Arriving at my destination
Actions do not have to be described in words. Instead, if convenient, display them as a diagram or screenshots of the application, as Uber did. Then, it will be easy to mark the points of contact on the same screenshots.
To properly prioritize, it’s helpful to determine how critical each step or touchpoint is to overall customer satisfaction. Do not complicate it; it is enough to distinguish three levels of importance: low, medium, and high.
It’s essential to correctly determine what the client wants to receive due to his actions at each step. At a minimum, it is helpful to meet the client’s expectations and not disappoint him. But it’s even better if you can do more and make the client say: “Wow, how cool!”
EXAMPLE
Stage: Order a taxi through the application.
Goal: Quickly get a good car with an adequate driver.
Expectations: There will be enough cars nearby, and I will be able to go to my destination without delay.
This part of the map helps the company put itself in the customer’s shoes and understand them better. In the formulations, it’s vital to use words that the clients themselves use.
Fragment of the CJM support center. At the stage of receiving help, the person asks the following questions: “Will I be able to talk to the same employee again? Is it anonymous? Is the conversation being recorded? What did they think of me?
Most often, emotions are displayed on the map using emoticons.
It’s essential to understand that the client’s feelings at each step depend not only on the company’s work but also on the content of the stage itself.
EXAMPLE
Stage: Waiting for test results in the clinic.
Emotions: Tension and anxiety (we feel regardless of the level of service in the clinic).
Recommendations on how to smooth out the negative: To enable clients to find out the results of analyzes as quickly as possible online.
An interesting move is to combine thoughts and emotions. It turns out very clearly:
In this block, write down all the problems that the client encounters on the way to the goal. Any little thing that prevents the buyer from achieving what they want and moving on to the next step will do.
Making your customer journey map has the main task of reducing the number of barriers to a minimum to make the client’s journey as comfortable as possible. Therefore, next to the obstacles, indicate recommendations on eliminating them.
EXAMPLE
Stage: Registration on the site.
Barrier: The email confirming the address got into spam, the client fell off.
Recommendations: Ask the client to add the address to contacts, send the letter again after some time, or generally allow them to perform basic actions without registration.
We have listed the main blocks of information included in the customer journey map. In addition to them, you should add any information to the map that will help you better understand the client:
Remember that mapping the customer journey is not the result but only a guide to improving the customer experience. Therefore, after its development, it’s crucial to prioritize ideas for removing barriers to the client’s path, which are easier to implement, and the maximum effect is expected.
Based on the selected ideas, an action plan is drawn up with indications of those responsible. The goal is to simplify the user’s journey and make it as comfortable as possible.
Don’t forget to update the map from time to time. For example, when you were able to eliminate significant barriers to the customer journey, you introduced new channels of communication or noticed changes in customers’ behavior and needs. Only an up-to-date card will perform its functions and become a sure help in working with clients.
Our Gapsy studio knows exactly how to make the customer journey map correct and functional so that your user is delighted with the interaction with the product. Contact us, and we will be ready to help you with any question in the field of web and mobile design, branding, and animation services. We will be delighted to cooperate and build new long-term client relationships.
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